January 12 // Why the U.S. spends so much more than other nations on health care

The United States spends almost twice as much on health care, as a percentage of its economy, as other advanced industrialized countries — totaling $3.3 trillion, or 17.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2016. But a few decades ago American health care spending was much closer to that of peer nations. What happened? A large part of the answer can be found in the title of a 2003 paper in Health Affairs by thePrinceton University health economist Uwe Reinhardt: “It’s the prices, stupid.” (NYT)